Australia news as it happened: Albanese addresses shooting of Nine journalist; Monash IVF caught in second embryo transfer bungle;

The Age

19 hours ago

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What we covered today
By Carla Jaeger
Thanks for reading the national news blog. That's all for today – we'll be back tomorrow for more live coverage.
Here's a look back at the day's major stories:
NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car will take personal leave after announcing she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
A fresh wave of Russian drone and missile attacks has killed one person and wounded at least eight others in two major Ukrainian cities. The attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war.
Passengers aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship, including activist Greta Thunberg, are set to be deported to their home countries after being detained by Israeli officials.
Monash IVF is facing regulatory investigations after announcing it transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman, the second incident admitted by the fertility giant in two months.
The Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation after Nine News US Correspondent Lauren Tomasi was shot by a rubber bullet while covering protests in Los Angeles yesterday.
And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that an economic roundtable meeting, tasked with helping form a new economic growth and productivity agenda, will be held in August.
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4.13pm
Average Australian home value passes record $1 million
By Millie Muroi and Shane Wright
The value of an average Australian home has soared through the $1 million mark for the first time despite a slowdown in growth as the Albanese government fights to contain the housing affordability crisis.
Fresh figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed the average home was worth $1,002,500 in the March quarter, up $6900 from the last three months of 2024.
3.56pm
Fresh wave of Russian attacks kills one person and wounds others
Turning back to Ukraine, where a fresh wave of Russian drone and missile attacks has killed one person and wounded at least eight others in two major Ukrainian cities in the early hours of Tuesday, Ukraine officials said.
One person was killed and four injured in the southern port city of Odesa, said regional governor Oleh Kiper. A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the centre of the city were also damaged in the attack.
Four people were injured in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions, including the buzzing of drones, in different parts of the city for hours early on Tuesday.
The fresh wave of Russian attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials had been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases.
Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defence forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hours-long attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her eight-month-old son, Levko, were among them.
'I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because it's probably the hardest thing for him to bear,' she said.
Krystyna Semak, a 37-year-old Kyiv resident, said the explosions frightened her and she ran to the metro at 2am with a rug.
Russia has been launching a record-breaking number of drones and missiles targeting Ukraine while the two countries continue to swap prisoners of war, the only tangible outcome of recent direct peace talks held in Istanbul. A ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive.
In Kyiv, fires broke out in at least four districts after debris from shot-down drones fell on the roofs of residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.
Vasyl Pesenko, 25, stood in his kitchen, which was damaged in the attack.
'I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds [a type of drone] would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),' he said. 'I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.'
3.39pm
Health regulator launches investigation into Monash IVF embryo bungle
By Carla Jaeger
Earlier today we told you that Monash IVF mistakenly transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman, the second incident admitted by the fertility giant in two months.
The Victorian Health Regulator will now launch an investigation into the bungle, which occurred on June 5, after being notified on Tuesday. Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas described the event as unacceptable.
'Families should have confidence that the treatment they are receiving is done to the highest standard,' Thomas said.
Thomas said Monash IVF would be required to fully co-operate with the regulator's investigation and provide clear answers on how this happened.
3.12pm
NSW premier defends bungled psychiatry pay figures
By Kate Aubusson
There appears to be some creative accounting at Macquarie Street when it comes to the cost of NSW's public psychiatrists' 25 per cent pay rise.
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Premier Chris Minns added to the confusion when he told a press conference this morning: 'If you look at the spending over the next seven to 10 years, just for the psychiatrists that have asked for that kind of increase, you are looking at over half a billion dollars, close to $700 million in spending.'
Minns' statement is at odds with Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson's comments last week. Jackson told the media that agreeing to a 25 per cent pay rise in one year would cost $700 million, before clarifying in parliament that this was the total cost of paying all public hospital psychiatrists at the higher rate over forward estimates, which is typically four years.
Internal government documents revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald this morning show that NSW Health's own modelling found the cost of giving staff specialists a 25 per cent pay rise to fill all 416 positions in NSW would be an additional $24.9 million per year.
That would amount to roughly $500 million over four years.
Minns said if the government agreed to the increase for psychiatrists, other specialists would demand the same pay rise: 'You are looking at billions of dollars from the New South Wales taxpayer.'
2.58pm
Greta Thunberg and fellow activists en route to home countries: Israeli government
By Carla Jaeger
The twelve passengers who boarded an aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip, including activist Greta Thunberg, are en route to their home countries after being deported, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The activists' boat, which was carrying a symbolic amount of aid, arrived at the Israeli port of Ashdod on Tuesday accompanied by Israel's navy, after Israeli forces boarded it on Monday as it approached Gaza.
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The ministry said in a social media post it had taken the passengers to an airport in Tel Aviv. If any refuse to leave Israel, they could face legal authorities to be forcibly deported.
The activists set out from Sicily a week ago to protest Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip and its tight restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, which have put 2.3 million Palestinians at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the voyage, said the activists were 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' about 200 kilometres off Gaza while trying to deliver desperately needed food, baby formula and medical supplies.
With AP, Reuters
2.26pm
Media union weighs in on Lauren Tomasi shooting
By Amber Schultz
The union representing Australian journalists has condemned the 'deliberate' targeting of Nine US Correspondent Lauren Tomasi, who was shot with a rubber bullet while reporting on immigration protests in Los Angeles.
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In a statement on social media, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said the 'shocking' footage was 'evidence of the lengths media workers go to report the truth'.
'Tomasi appears to be deliberately shot while she is speaking to the camera. Journalists reporting from the frontline of protests and wars fulfil the essential role of bearing witness, and should be accorded the same protections as other frontline workers,' the statement read.
'We are grateful to learn both Lauren and her camera person are safe, but this situation highlights the need to centre worker safety. No one deserves to be shot or injured during the course of their work.'
2.13pm
Ban on machete sales working despite eBay ads, says Consumer Affairs Victoria
By Madeleine Heffernan
Consumer Affairs Victoria says its crackdown on the sale of machetes is working, despite advertisements for the weapons appearing on online marketplace eBay.
Consumer Affairs told MPs on Wednesday its 14-strong machete taskforce had conducted 359 inspections, including more than 280 in-store inspections, since the Allan government announced an interim ban on the sale of machetes due to a spate of attacks.
But Liberal MP Richard Welch questioned why advertisements for the weapon were still appearing on eBay.
Consumer Affairs director Nicole Rich said the online retailer had provided assurances that the weapon could not be bought in the state.
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'One of the things that eBay has assured us that they've put in place is geoblocking technology, so even where a machete might appear for sale, whether a purchase can be completed, and also whether a machete will actually be delivered or will be cancelled when you try and make a purchase is a separate question,' Rich told the public accounts and estimates committee.
'And we're reasonably confident at the moment that that technology is working, and it would remain very difficult to purchase a machete on eBay.'
The machete ban came into effect on May 28. Maximum penalties for breaching an interim product safety ban are $2.5 million for individuals and $50 million for companies.
The government will move to permanently ban the possession, use and sale of machetes in Victoria later this year.
1.56pm
Another election on the cards for Tassie
By Alexander Darling
Tasmanians – and the AFL – are watching and waiting to see if Liberal premier Jeremy Rockliff will call a snap election today.
Last week, Rockliff narrowly lost a no-confidence motion moved against him in parliament by the state opposition.
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Following this, Rockliff broke with parliamentary convention and chose not to step down.
He is expected to visit the state's governor today to make the election request, following a sitting of state parliament to pass an emergency budget bill to ensure public servants get paid.
Labor said it moved the no-confidence motion in response to what it called issues of financial management, government plans to privatise public assets and cost blowouts on projects such as new Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
If an election is called, it will be the second for Tasmania in as many years and the fourth election in seven years, when elections are meant to be held every four years.
On Tuesday morning, Police Minister Felix Ellis claimed he had texts 'sent by a member of [opposition leader Dean Winter's] inner sanctum' proving Winter's no-confidence motion was a power grab rather than moved in the interests of Tasmanians.
Winter has tipped the purse strings would be tightened during an election campaign.
'This will not be a spendathon from Labor. Our state can't afford it,' he said.
Over the weekend, Rockliff ruled out privatisations as a way of balancing the budget, in an attempt to defuse opposition attacks.
The turmoil in the state's politics is likely to have repercussions for the Tasmania Devils, the planned 19th team in the AFL. The AFL Commission is meeting today and the political situation is likely to be on the agenda.
1.45pm
What we know so far
By Carla Jaeger
Thanks for tuning into our live coverage of the latest national and international news, headed by Amber Schultz. I'm Carla Jaeger, and I'll be anchoring the blog for the rest of the afternoon. If you're just joining us, here's what you may have missed:
A formal investigation is under way into the shooting with a rubber bullet of Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi, who was covering the ICE protests in Los Angeles.
An IVF clinic in Melbourne has transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman, the second incident admitted by the fertility giant in as many months.
Federal Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has been appointed the new chief of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's department. The announcement was made during Albanese's National Press Club address.